Prastio Kellakiou
Prastio Kellakiou is a village of the district of Limassol in Cyprus and is located 27 km southeast of Limassol, 68 km southwest of Nicosia, 64 km west of Larnaca and 93 km east of Paphos.
Built between the peaks of Listovounou, in the valley of the river Amathou and at an altitude of 500 meters, Prastio Kellakiou of the about 70 residents is a village with stone-built houses, with a high surrounding wall and an interior courtyard and several stone fountains in the neighborhoods.
A place that has been an inspiration for Evans, the metal sculptures artist, who created the largest lock in the world and entered thus the Guinness Book of Records, the beautiful koumantarochori (wine producing village) today has much to offer to its visitors, such as the magnificent nature, the churches and museums.
Apart from the large parts of uncultivated land covered with wild natural vegetation, in Prastio Kellakiou grow mandarin, apple, olive, almond and carob trees, plum trees, and vegetables. Within the administrative boundaries of the community are the three quarries operating in the region, and much of the state forest of Limassol with Cypriot flora and fauna, including endemic birds, hares and others.
The village has existed at least since medieval times, as its name refers to the medieval French word Prasti meaning field and was a toponym for farms that belonged to some feuds of the era. Besides, in the middle ages many small villages in Cyprus were called Prastio and constituted small agricultural communities that were subject to other larger communities, the feuds.
Another version claims that the name is Greek and even dates back to the Byzantine times, with Prastio meaning a village near the town (pro – before and asti – city in Greek stands for suburb, before the city). Back then, the neighboring Kellaki was the administrative center of the mountainous region and one of the dominant producers of Commandaria, the king of wines.
Major attractions and remnants of the history and economic life of the country are the Wine Museum of Prastio Kellakiou and the Olive mill of Prastio Kellakiou. The Wine Museum is housed in a traditional stone-built two-storey building, near the church and includes a wine press in which the grapes were stomped in order to extract the must. The olive mill exhibits the rich local tradition in the production of olives and olive oil and includes all the necessary tools, machinery and objects of a traditional mill. Another cultural attraction of the community is the Museum of Rocks of Prastio Kellakiou that includes rocks, crystals, minerals, monocrystalline rocks and fossils from various Troodos areas, but also from the whole of Cyprus.
The central church of Panagia Eleousa (Virgin Mary of Mercy) is located south of the village on top of a small hill. It is a stone basilica built in 1679 with a tiled roof, while the church was extended after 1880 to almost double its size. The bell tower is stone built, out of Limassol stone after the reconstruction in 2002, while the icon is considered miraculous for women who wish to have a child. On November 21 and the day the Presentation of the Virgin Mary, a celebration takes place in the village, with crowds of people flocking to venerate the image.
At two kilometers southwest of the village, in the “Foinikia” area, the remains of an old small church have been found, the Panagia ton Finikion (Virgin Mary of the Phoenicians) that was probably a monastery which was destroyed by fire.
Another few attractions that can be seen by the traveler in Prastio Kellakiou is the beautiful building of the old primary school just outside the village, the stone arch of the irrigation system supplying water to the area east of the village and the paved square dedicated to the hero Christakis Theodosiou. For food, you can visit the cultural center of the community.